Running Up That Hill
by dimming
Summary: The beginnings of a war is stirring in the Wizarding World. Caught in the crossfire, the Balcoin sisters have a choice to make; light or dark? Family or friends? Fred/oc, Draco/oc.
1. The 'Claw Compartment

**author ;; **dimming  
**title ;; **running up that hill  
**summary ;; **the beginnings of a war are stirring in the wizarding world. caught in the crossfire, the balcoin sisters have a choice to make; light or dark? family or friends? fred/oc, draco/oc.  
**disclaimer ;; **we claim no ownership to the harry potter series or its characters. all rights go to j.k rowling and warner brothers'.

{so wow, first fanfic. well, posted here. but still. it counts. we're hoping we haven't done a shoddy job of this; but who knows, maybe we have. we probably have, actually. still. erm, longer author's note at the bottom.}

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**Chapter One.  
**_The 'Claw Compartment._

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_Katherine._

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The morning of September 1st dawns bright and early. Well, maybe 'bright' is pushing it a bit; it's never bright in England, and most definitely not within a thirty mile radius of London, where this tale begins. In the room at the end of the corridor on the third floor of Number 15 Weyland Park, to be precise. The room itself is nothing spectacular; on the walls moving photos and portraits are displayed, drapes of royal blue silk adorn the windows, a bookcase stuffed full with tomes on every subject imaginable (ranging from _'Advanced Transfiguration and its Applications' _to a worn copy of '_Hogwarts: A History'_) and an owl perch housing perhaps the proudest bird in the world is placed in the corner. The usual, for a wizarding family; perhaps a little more luxurious, but simple. The girl lying in the queen-sized bed is anything but; near-black hair is splayed out on the pillow, a stark contrast to the white of the satin, and long black eyelashes rest on pale smooth cheeks. Plump, pink lips open momentarily to let out a sleepy mumble, eyelids fluttering slightly, before the girl's petite body shifts. She rolls onto her stomach, seemingly returning to her slumber, before a scowl darkens her pretty features. Her eyelids open, revealing startlingly blue eyes made dazed and confused with sleep. She raises her head to glare at the sunlight streaming through her window, before burying her face in her pillow again with a groan.

Her room remains peaceful and still for a few moments. The owl in the corner dozes silently, the drapes flutter in the breeze and through the window trickles the sound of children laughing outside. Suddenly the door bursts open, where a girl resembling the girl in the bed stands. In her hands, she holds a glass of water, and her nails are painted burgundy. She leans against the doorframe with a lazy sort of elegance, eyebrow raised as she studies the sleeping form of her sister. The girl simply oozes confidence; from the immaculate clothes she wears (the latest in Madame Marlova's trendy line), to the way she holds her head high, a lazy smirk settling across her lips in a manner that gives the impression that it settles there often. She studies her sister momentarily, before rolling her eyes - the same startling blue as her sister's - and pushing herself away from the doorway gracefully. The girl glides - because 'walking' would simply not do it justice - towards the bed, rolling her eyes once more at her sister and tipping the glass upside down.

For her part, the sleeping girl doesn't overreact to the water that falls onto her hair. At first. In fact, she lifts her head and levels her sister with a glare that could restart the hearts of the dead and have even the greatest of slytherins trembling. Her lip curls distastefully, as she grounds out, "You'd better run, girl." These words are all the other girl gets before the formerly sleeping girl leaps out of her bed, face twisted in an angry snarl as she launches herself at her sister.

Eventually, the girls' parents must have heard their screaming, for there is a loud crack, not unlike that of a bone breaking, before an odd looking creature appears beside the struggling two. It's small, with eyes like tennis balls and just as vivid, wrinkled skin and a long pointed nose. It's garbed in something that looks somewhat like the pillowcase on the bed behind the girls, however a coat of arms is stitched into the breast. It snaps its fingers and the girls are pushed away from each other by an invisible force, still glaring, though the first girl's lips twitch as she tries to prevent a smile. The creature bows lowly so that its long nose brushes the floor, before rising and saying in a squeaky voice, "Mistress Lucretia is asking Tippy to stop the young misses from fighting, she is. Mistress Lucretia is saying the young misses has to get ready for the platform now." Tippy stays as though waiting for a dismissal, and finally the second girl nods sharply to the creature, looking away from her sister. Tippy disappears with another _crack!_, leaving the sisters alone.

The first, the one who had been sleeping, raises one well-groomed eyebrow at her sister, who smirks softly before saying in a silky smooth voice, "You know it was funny, Katherine." Katherine snorts derisively, shaking her head grabbing her towel off the back of a chair to dry her hair and night-shirt before sighing.

"Since when did I ever find anything _you _did funny, Jasmine?" Jasmine shrugs slightly, reclining on Katherine's still-warm bed lazily as she shoots back,

"Since when did you find _anything _funny, Kathy?" Katherine rolls her eyes, turning to her vanity and picking up a hairbrush. Running it through her hair roughly and wincing when it catches on a knot, she turns back to her sister.

"Whatever. Look, clear off. I've gotta get ready." Jasmine raises an eyebrow,

"You're packed." Katherine shoots her a look that is surely questioning her intelligence before pulling at her Weird Sisters tee obviously. Jasmine sighs and rolls her eyes, pulling herself up from the bed as though such a thing is a chore. She flips her sister the bird as she walks out of the room, and Katherine rolls her eyes and shuts the door behind the petite girl.

.

.

The cool air of September is a sharp jolt to reality for the eldest Balcoin sister. Stepping out through the front door, and feeling the muggle-repelling wards slip over her as she walks further and further away from it, Katherine's face perks up, eyes suddenly wide and awake. The wind has flushed her cheeks pink and tugs on her house scarf teasingly, forcing her hair into her face irritatingly, but somehow she manages to keep a straight face.

The same can most definitely not be said for Jasmine, who wanders down the steps to their house with a chilly scowl on her face, pulling her muggle clothes (the ones she had loathed so openly and refused to touch for weeks) closer around her and shivering slightly.

Behind Jasmine walks Lucretia Balcoin, their mother. She somehow manages to achieve an aura of perfect indifference, despite the wind pulling at her hair childishly. She herself is clothed in a black robe, having flat-out refused the muggle clothes her husband had offered her. Lucretia holds her wand out for the Knight Bus as her husband Septimus leaves through the door, which quickly closes behind him. Like Lucretia, his face is an apathetic mask, though a shine of irritation glimmers in his eyes momentarily as he brushes imaginary dust off his slacks.

The Knight Bus appears down the road, rushing forward towards the family eagerly, and Katherine notably wrinkles her nose in disgust at the transportation. It is no secret that Katherine Balcoin loathes the Knight Bus with a passion; perhaps the one thing the sisters have in common. Anticipation for a rough journey builds in Katherine's stomach, and she tries to distract herself from it by recounting page fourteen of _'101 Effective Hexes and Jinxes', _and is doing a pretty good job of it. She's just reached Densaugeo, (_'will cause the target's teeth to elongate at an alarming rate...'_) when the Knight Bus jolts and fires up, the outsides a blur through the windows. Katherine sighs, wincing slightly as they turn a sharp corner and trying to keep her face as blank as her sister's. Somewhat succeeding.

When the family _do_ finally arrive at King's Cross, it is with no small relief. They step seamlessly onto the platform with such ease it is as though they were always there; like carvings, statues placed there, weathered by time but forever in that one spot. It's funny, how much they seem to belong here; despite the muggle clothes, they hold their heads high with aristocratic grace and look down their noses at the people around them, child and adult alike.

The sisters embrace their parents briefly, Katherine in particular appearing far more affectionate than Jasmine, before separating with a wave and a promise to write. Jasmine glances at Katherine, who catches her eye, and there's a brief moment of awkwardness, before the two share a curt nod and head in opposite directions.

Katherine heads for her usual compartment; the third from the back. Her 'clique' had claimed it back in first year, and it had been tradition ever since. However, when Katherine entered it, it was very much empty. This wasn't a surprise, of course; the Balcoin family had always been incredibly punctual, and it was often that she arrived before any of her friends did. Rather than be irritated by this, Katherine smiles softly, the closest to peace she would find, digging around in her trunk for a book, before levitating her trunk onto the rack. She takes her seat near the window, opening her copy of _'Advanced Transfiguration and its Applications' _with a yawn. She's immersed in it (transfiguration always was her favourite subject) until there's a loud knock on the window of the compartment door.

Through the glass, she can see the pretty face of best friend Ophelia Rushden, a gryffindor. She's not particularly stunning, Kathy supposes. Plain brown eyes framed by long black lashes shine out from above pale flawless cheeks, brown curls and a dimpled smile. The girl opens the door, dropping her trunk carelessly beside the door and leaping at Katherine as the other girl stands.

"Philly!" Katherine laughs, wrapping arms around the shorter girl easily. Ophelia herself squeezes Katherine in reply, before pulling away shooting a baleful glare at her trunk. Katherine takes her seat, shaking her head at her friend. She offers no help as Ophelia hoists the trunk onto the rack - letting out a few grunts and curses too - before finally collapsing in the seat beside Katherine.

"How was your summer with _Jasmine_?" Philly emphasises Katherine's sister's name with a girlish, floaty sort of voice that makes Katherine herself wrinkle her nose. Or maybe it's just the mention of her sister.

"It was... eventful." Philly snorts in an unladylike fashion at this, muttering something that sounds suspiciously like 'how could it not be?' as Kathy begins a tale about her sister's whiny disposition, obsession with one Draco Malfoy and irritating antics. Admittedly, Philly has to hold back a few laughs at the latter, but Kathy pretends not to notice them out of politeness. "...and that, my friend, is how Jasmine ended up with that nasty scar above her eyebrow. You know the one - it's real distracting, tiny but just like, you want to just," she pauses to make a scrubbing motion with her hands, "rub it off!" Philly laughs, about to reply, before a masculine voice does it for her,

"Interesting. Honestly, the Balcoin War is the highlight of Hogwarts Express rides." Over Ophelia's shoulder are two thoroughly intertwined forms; one, a tall, broad-shouldered bloke with sandy hair that flops into his eyes - which are a delicious olive green – and a charming smile, the other, a petite caramel-skinned girl with chocolate brown eyes and curly black hair. Though their entrance is sudden, only Ophelia looks surprised, Katherine appearing almost as though she'd been expecting the abrupt arrival of boy and girl. Indeed, she stands and they pull apart, the girl to hug Philly and the boy, Katherine.

"ROGER!" Philly yells in an undignified manner, and while the boy winces as he pulls away from Katherine's embrace, the girl covers her mouth to hide her laugh, throwing her arm casually around Kathy's shoulders. Neither embrace, though a warm look fills their eyes as they glance at each other. While Philly and the boy, Roger, have a close bond in their interactions, - the two have known each other since they were toddlers shuffling around their manors - Kathy and the girl appear to have a similar closeness.

"So, Sammie, any news?" Sammie smiles happily, nodding her head as Roger levitates their trunks into the rack - 'why the fuck didn't _I _think of that?', Ophelia shrieks, outraged - as Sammie begins talking. Roger takes a seat opposite her, and she distractedly removes her feet from her flats and rests them in his lap.

"Well, dad said something about the ministry," she wrinkles her nose at the organisation her father works for, "sending a professor to teach at Hogwarts this year. Said to look out." Ophelia frowns.

"That can't be good."

Sammie nods, sighing softly. "The last time he told me to 'look out' was last year. With the..." She doesn't need to go on. Ophelia, Sammie and Roger's faces show the appropriate sadness and respect for Diggory's death, but Kathy isn't paying attention. Her father had been there that night; apparently, the Balcoin name was among those the Potter boy listed as Death Eaters. The minister had written it off, she knew; dismissed the boy-who-lied (if you believed the Prophet) and claimed he could have read any old trial transcripts. It did not prevent the icy fingers that had gripped her heart, stayed there for months. She knew her father's instructions, - her whole family did - that they were to keep quiet about it, but the worry in the pit of her stomach hadn't faded. She would serve Him, soon, she knew; her mother and father expected it of her. And maybe, the next time someone accused a Balcoin, it wouldn't be her father they were talking about. Maybe it would be her.

"KATHY! For crying out loud, Balcoin!" Katherine starts, blue eyes momentarily unfocused, before clearing and turning smooth, expressionless.

"Hmm?" Roger's the first to laugh, - he's balancing a box of Bertie Bott's and a chocolate frog around Sam's feet - but Sam soon starts giggling around a mouthful of Cauldron Cake and Philly snorts inelegantly from her place in front of the food trolley at the door. Attempting to retain some semblance of normalcy, Katherine laughs off her momentary loss of concentration and reaches into her handbag for her pouch of galleons. She pulls it out and stands, stepping over Sam's legs. Glancing at the food on the cart over Philly's head of curls, she grins and tries to keep all worries off her face as she reaches for a pack of Sugar Quills. In front of her, Philly offers the trolley lady a handful of coins, sitting down with a liquorice wand between her lips - and several more in her hand - and a satisfied look on her face. Grabbing two chocolate frogs off the lower shelf, she casually presses a few sickles into the lady's hand and goes to sit down with a yawn.

"So what's got you so thoughtful, Kat? Didn't know you _had_ that facial expression..." Katherine gives Roger a half-hearted glare, otherwise managing to keep her face neutral as she answers casually, "Just wondering if I should take a bet on the new Defense teacher's untimely demise." Sam chokes on her Cauldron Cake, pounding on her chest as Philly snorts and Roger gives her a disapproving look. Katherine rolls her eyes at the latter, opening her chocolate frog and catching it with practised ease when it jumps out as Roger says, "That's bad, Kathy. For all we know, this one might break the 'curse'." Katherine raises an eyebrow and he concedes, "Okay, maybe not. But c'mon, some of them don't deserve all the shit they get." Katherine shrugs; it's no good arguing with Roger on something like this.

When they've finished the majority of their food, - Kathy's packed away her pack of Sugar Quills, complete with stasis charm, for later consumption - the girls shoo Roger out (he glares at this, but shakes his head with a laugh at a look from Sam) and get changed. While Katherine and Sam don Ravenclaw ties, Philly throws a Gryffindor one carelessly over her shoulders. She'll tie it later. When they're done, they sit down and laze around as they wait for Roger to return. Philly rushes over last-minute homework (a disgrace to the Ravenclaws), while Katherine has her feet resting lazily on the seat opposite her - shoes discarded on the floor - with a book lying, abandoned, in her lap as she and Sam - sitting cross-legged on the floor with a bottle of hot pink nail varnish in front of her - toss a scrunched-up piece of parchment back and forth.

This is the picture Roger walks in on - nearly tripping over Sam in the process and knocking over her nail varnish - ten minutes later. Sam glares at her boyfriend, plucking her wand from the seat beside her carefully so as not to smudge her nails, and Roger collapses beside Katherine's seat with a tired sigh. She raises an eyebrow at him and he grins charmingly, a rich laugh coming from between his lips when the parchment Sam throws hits her in the face. Katherine shoots Sam a mock-wounded look, and Sam wags a finger at her.

"No making eyes at my boyfriend." Katherine pouts.

"But it's so fun." Sam chuckles softly, sticking her tongue out at the other girl. The train slows just as Philly finishes her Charms homework, and the girl gives a triumphant hoot, punching the air with her fists before casting a drying charm on the last of the ink and shoving the parchment into her trunk carelessly. The Ravenclaws look scandalized by the poor treatment of her work, and Philly rolls her eyes at her friends and pulls down her trunk onto her foot, letting out a yelp of pain that has the others laughing. Having common sense, they levitate their trunks down and drag them through the train aisle, still laughing. She fails to notice her sister with her group of friends shoot her a cold, irritated look.

Katherine's too caught up in being young to worry about anything like pride or sibling rivalry.

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{so, wow. long first chapter. which i'm pretty proud of, tbh. it focuses far more on katherine than jasmine, but jasmine will most definitely have her say. in fact, the next chapter centres on jasmine. for those wondering, and this is actually pretty useful information for this fic, there _are _two of us writing this. there's me, mollie (hi!), and i write katherine. then zahra will write jasmine, so there _will _be different writing styles and perspectives, but i hope you don't mind. they're our babies; we wanted to share them.  
there's a link to the casting for the characters on our profile.}


	2. A Strange Interruption

**author ;; **dimming  
**title ;; **running up that hill  
**summary ;; **the beginnings of a war are stirring in the wizarding world. caught in the crossfire, the balcoin sisters have a choice to make; light or dark? family or friends? fred/oc, draco/oc.  
**disclaimer ;; **we claim no ownership to the harry potter series or its characters. all rights go to j.k rowling and warner brothers'.

{so, chapter two. which i think is pretty good, but zahra doesn't seem to agree... anyway, jasmine for you guys!}

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**Chapter Two.**  
_A Strange Interruption_

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_Jasmine._

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The great hall was always a magnificent sight on the first day back. The hall was light by thousands of bright, floating candles whilst students chatted happily with each other, drinking from the shiny gold goblets and eating from the fine golden plates. The first years had been sorted and sat with their houses, the pride glowing from their faces as they shook hands with fellow housemates. Amongst all the chatter in the great hall sat a petite girl, with dark brunette hair and gorgeous features. She stared into the distance, too entranced by the ceiling – which was enchanted to like the sky- to notice a young slytherin boy dropped next to her. He had pale blond hair, cold grey eyes and wore the same uniform as the girl. He sat there and enjoyed the silence, clearly amused at the fact and chuckled silently.

"What's so funny?" she snapped, irritated at him for disrupting her thoughts. He gazed into her bright blue eyes lazily and smirked.

"Jasmine, can't a friend greet another friend nowadays?" He questioned. Jasmine rolled her eyes and her pink lips turned in to frown before she hissed,

"I'm not in the mood for your nonsense, Draco." The blond threw her a dirty look her before he turned his back and began talking animatedly to Blaise about quidditch. 'That wretch quidditch' Jasmine thought. For a while, she stared at the back of the blond's head, memorising each perfect feature whilst yearning for his attention. Instead, she had to put up with Daphne's constant dilemmas with her boyfriend – not that she minded though, she just wasn't bothered today. Daphne's hazel eyes gleamed with anger and her skinny arms waved about as she tried to explain the situation to Jasmine. Jasmine listened to her whining about him not writing over the holiday and complained to Jasmine that it was her 'disgraceful' figure that had caused such an atrocity. Daphne flicked her golden hair out of her face and she placed her pale face into her bony fingers, whilst screaming,

"And it's all my fault!"

"Is Daphne giving you an earful, Jas?" Theodore asked, laughing as Daphne tried to punch him. He gave Jasmine a cheeky smile, flashing a lot of his teeth and turned to annoy the Carrow twins. His skin had slightly tanned due to him visiting his uncle in Spain and his light brown hair was pushed to one side. You could clearly see his cheekbones when he smiled, causing many girls to drool over him.

"Have you heard about Umbridge?" Theodore questioned, his eyes glistening with curiosity. Draco and Blaise turned around before Draco replied,

"She's the new defence against the dark arts teacher; my father told me." Draco leaned in so closely that you could smell his strong cologne, and whispered, "The ministry is interfering with Hogwarts education. You know what that means?" the group shook their heads, "that certain oafs won't be working here any longer." He leered gleefully at Hagrid's empty seat and smirked before returning to his conversation about quidditch with Blaise.

"Have you nothing else to talk about? Nothing more, oh I don't know, interesting?" Jasmine asked, irritated by the lack of information he'd given them.

"What? I do have other interests besides you, Balcoin." He replied teasingly as he twisted her hair round his pale fingers. She made a kissy face at him and he did the same, whilst everyone on the table groaned. Jasmine saw her sister roll her eyes from the Ravenclaw and waggled her tongue at her. 'The jealous cow,' Jasmine thought, shaking her head irritably.

Suddenly, Professor Dumbledore rose, causing everyone to become silent. "Welcome to another fantastic year here at Hogwarts!" he boomed delightedly, smiling at each one of the students as Blaise muttered a, 'here we go again', under his breath, causing everybody to giggle.

"I hope we are all enjoying this magnificent feast that has been laid upon these marvelous tables. However, I beg a few moments of your attention for the usual start-of-term notices." Dumbledore spoke uninterrupted for quite a while as the students fidgeted, trying to focus until someone coughed in a ridiculous girly manner and rose.

It was Umbridge.

"Thank you, Headmaster," Professor Umbridge simpered, "for those kind words of welcome. Well, it is lovely to be back at Hogwarts, I must say!" She smiled, revealing very pointed teeth. 'And to see such happy little faces looking up at me!"

Blaise, Crabbe and Goyle exchanged smirks and began snickering beneath their breath.

"I am very much looking forward to getting to know you all and I'm sure we'll be very good friends! The Ministry of Magic has always considered the education of young witches and wizards to be of vital importance. The rare gifts with which you were born may come to nothing if not nurtured and honed by careful instruction. The ancient skills unique to the wizarding community must be passed down the generations lest we lose them forever. The treasure trove of magical knowledge amassed by our ancestors must be guarded, replenished and polished by those who have been called to the noble profession of teaching."

Umbridge pointed towards the professors, who glared back at her with irritation.

"Every headmaster and headmistress of Hogwarts has brought something new to the weighty task of governing this historic school, and that is as it should be, for without progress there will be stag-nation and decay. There again, progress for progress's sake must be discouraged, for our tried and tested traditions often require no tinkering. A balance, then, between old and new, between permanence and change, between tradition and innovation..."

She stared angrily at the Ravenclaw table, where most of the students had started talking, giggling and ignoring her completely. Katherine began embarrassing the entire Blacoin line by imitating a toad to amuse her friends, eyes still fixed on the irritating pink sight that stood at the front. It was a horrid sight; Jasmine could barely keep her dinner in.

"... Because some changes will be for the better, while others will come, in the fullness of time, to be recognised as errors of judgement. Meanwhile, some old habits will be retained, and rightly so, whereas others, outmoded and outworn, must be abandoned. Let us move forward, then, into a new era of openness, effective-ness and accountability, intent on preserving what ought to be pre-served, perfecting what needs to be perfected, and pruning wherever we find practices that ought to be prohibited."

Umbridge bowed slowly and left the stage as the hall clapped quietly.

Jasmine looked at Daphne, who was wearing the same confused expression as her.

"What on earth-" Daphne was cut off by Draco,

"This place is going to be different when she's done with it." He announced. "Hopefully, they get rid of that loony Trelawny and the oaf. I can't bear the sight of them for another year." Flora Carrow giggled.

"Hey Jas!" Draco called as he pointed towards the corner of her forehead, "How in Merlin's name did you get that?"

Jasmine quickly covered it up with a lock of hair as she told them of Katherine's vicious attack, which involved shampoo bottles, a furnunculus gone wrong and a bowl of pixie puffs. "Let's hope you don't turn into Potter 2.0." Blaise joked, causing the Carrow sisters and Theodore to laugh shortly. However, Draco looked at the scar on his dearest friend with genuine concern whilst cursing her awful sister under his breath. Jasmine giggled.

"You have no reason to hate her Draco; she's just a bitch. It's in her nature." She complained. "Mother and father treat her like a princess and I'm the poor house elf picking up after her messes. God knows how this," she gestures to her forehead, "was supposed to be funny."

"You'll always be my princess." Draco whispered, causing Jasmine to blush an alarming shade of red. Draco chortled delightedly at the sight of Jasmine's face and shook his head. Jasmine saw a couple of her sister's friends thwacking each other on the arm and laughing from the corner of her eye and felt automatically irritated. There was an ink stain on the boy's cheek and she wrinkled her nose disgustedly. 'If only mother knew,' Jasmine thought, disgusted at sight of this carelessness. She watched her sister smile at her friends on the Ravenclaw table when she ought to be sitting at the Slytherin one; perhaps she wouldn't have turned out this way, irritating and unladylike, perhaps she would have befriended upstanding purebloods, not blood traitors. Jasmine's eyes shone with anger. She had been the one who had been sorted into Slytherin, just like the rest of Balcoins, a testament to their noble bloodline, whereas she, the other daughter, had to be the odd one out, the rotten egg that was besmirching the Balcoin name. Yet, mother and father treated her better than they treated Jasmine, their only Slytherin daughter. They always had; they'd been so excited when Katherine had found ehr wand, yet bareley gave her a lick of attention when she received her own. Tears pricked in Jasmine's eyes as she stared at her so called 'perfect' sister, laughing happily whilst she played a silly hand clapping game with a group of her friends. She quickly wiped the tears away as they began to crawl down her cheeks while Draco watched her. She sniffed, knowing once the time came, she would be the favourite in the family, not her stupid sister. When it came down to it, after all, Jasmine would do anything to keep their world pure.

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{review?}


	3. An Oversized Toad

******author ;; **dimming**  
****title ;; **running up that hill**  
****summary ;;** the beginnings of a war are stirring in the wizarding world. caught in the crossfire, the balcoin sisters have a choice to make; light or dark? family or friends? fred/oc, draco/oc.**  
****disclaimer ;; **we claim no ownership to the harry potter series or its characters. all rights go to j.k rowling and warner brothers'.

{addicted2fanfics, thanks for the review! it's entirely up to zahra with the description etc, i don't really have any input, but i'm sure she'll try to add more description - it's just her writing style, really. thank you for the compliment, anyway. and about chapter one, i understand that it's a little dull but wasn't entirely sure how to make it exciting - it being the first chapter, not much is really going on, but it will get better.}

* * *

**Chapter Three.  
**_An Oversized Toad. _

* * *

_Katherine._

* * *

The Great Hall was filled with the chit-chat and the sound of friends laughing the night they first saw Umbridge. That somehow seemed symbolic, later, but Kathy doesn't know; she isn't particularly good at irony and all that stuff.

The group had found their seats among the Ravenclaws; Roger had received several greetings from girls in their house (Sam had jealously grabbed his hand and shot dirty looks at them all), and Philly parts with a cheery wave, headed for the gryffindor table, where she'll join Katie Bell. Katherine drops into her seat gracefully, earning herself a few looks from the boys next to the group as Sam and Roger find their own seats opposite her. They don't speak of the empty seat next to Katherine; the seat where, not all that long ago, Callum Macmillan had sat, laughed with them. Katherine shoots the seat itself a cold glare, unwilling to turn in her seat and seek the boy himself out on the hufflepuff table.

Sam gives her a cheery smile, completely disregarding the empty space, though Roger's fixed a glare over her shoulder, on a laughing boy she cannot see. "S'alright." She murmurs, shaking her head and settling her chin on her palm as she looks at Sam. "So," She says, louder, "how do you think you did on the charms essay?" Her attempt at distraction works; charms is Sam's favourite subject, and she's easily focused on it. Roger, however, frowns and shoots her a look. _This ain't over_.

"Well, better than you, I'm sure." Katherine pouts. She's never been particularly good at charms, though she is remarkably talented at transfiguration and potions.

"That's no fair." Roger snorts.

"'Course it's _fair_, Kat. You're just shit at charms." In turn, Katherine does the mature thing and sticks her tongue out at him. He laughs, and Sam grins at her from across the table. Roger moves on to talk about something, but Katherine isn't listening.

From here, she can see Jasmine. She catches her sister's eye just as she looks away, and Katherine frowns. She and Jasmine had never been particularly close, but since the 'return' of the Dark Lord, she'd been particularly distant. Perhaps she knew of their parent's days, spent grooming their eldest daughter for His service? Of course she did; Jasmine might be irritatingly thick at times, but she was a slytherin first and foremost; she knew how to be sneaky. Jasmine leans forward to make a kissy face at a blond; Malfoy, Katherine knows, an arrogant twit at the best of times. She rolls her eyes, gaze wandering further down the slytherin table disinterestedly. Her icy eyes linger for a moment longer on Theodore Nott, before she looks back at Sam, interrupting Roger with, "Blimey, Nott's filled out this year." Sam raises an eyebrow, turning back to the slytherin table and blinking in surprise.

"So he 'as." Roger raises an eyebrow at her, and she snorts. "Still think you're gorgeous Rog, no need to worry." He laughs shortly, shaking his head and turning back to Katherine with a raised eyebrow,

"So, before I was _so rudely interrupted_," He gives Katherine a look at this, and she schools her face into the perfect picture of innocence, "I was talking about the new defence professor." He points discreetly to the staff table, where a particularly ugly, fashion-impaired figure sits. Katherine wrinkles her nose, murmuring under her breath,

"Ew, much?" Sam nods.

"I know. I mean, at least _try, _seriously." Roger shakes his head at the girls, turning to one of the blokes next to him (Terence Peters, if she remembers correctly) about quidditch as Sam says quietly, "So how are you?"

Katherine raises an eyebrow. "Fine." In reply, Sam gives her a look like _I-know-you're-not-you're-my-best-friend-don't-lie-to-me _and she sighs and runs a hand through her hair. "I'm..." She trails off. After a moment, she continues, "As fine as can be expected, I s'pose." Sam's gaze turns sympathetic and Katherine turns away so as to not look at it.

"Well, Macmillan's a twat for doing that to you." It was a well known fact that Callum Macmillan had been caught cheating on his girlfriend of a year-and-a-half with fellow hufflepuff, Gayle Pocklington, last year. Roger had tried to beat him black and blue, but they don't talk about that. Katherine laughs without humour, shaking her head.

"'Course he is. Doesn't change the fact that it hurts." She shrugs at her friend's pity, "I'll get over it. Then we can beat him into the millennium at quidditch." Sam snorts a laugh, shaking her head at her friend. She glances over her shoulder at the gryffindor table, checking for eavesdroppers, before she says,

"So what do you think of this whole Potter business?" Katherine sighs; over Sam's shoulder, she can see Potter sitting with his friends, looking sickly and pale. The circles beneath his shocking green eyes indicate that he hasn't slept properly in weeks. Something akin to sympathy wells up inside her, but then she remembers that if it weren't for Fudge's incompetency, this boy would have gotten her father locked up, and loathing settles in her stomach again.

Katherine shrugs a reply to Sam, face schooled into a look of naivety and ignorance. Innocence. "Dunno. Seems a little attention-seeking, but... Well, there's always a chance, ain't there?" Sam shrugs one shoulder, looking unsure.

"Mum won't tell me anything. Dad thinks Potter's being an attention whore. Who fucking knows in my house?" Katherine snorts, shaking her head as a wry smile curls her lips. Their conversation is cut short by a loud boom of,

"I hope we are all enjoying this magnificent feast that has been laid upon these marvellous tables. However, I beg a few moments of your attention for the usual start-of-term notices." Katherine tunes out the rest. She's vaguely aware of the new defence teacher interrupting the headmaster and irritating any and all in the hall, and in traditional Katherine response, starts _ribbit_-ing in a remarkably accurate impression of a frog, eyes fixed firmly on the defence teacher. Umbridge noticeably starts searching the Ravenclaw table for the source, and she stops not long before the pink-clad woman catches eyes with her. The toad's speech continues, but Katherine's eyes are unfocused, face creased in a frown as she studies her sister on the slytherin table. From here, she can't see the scar on her forehead; it's particularly small, though fresh enough to be noticeable. Jasmine had spent all morning covering it up with muggle makeup, she knew, and she feels a momentary twinge of guilt. She really hadn't meant to cause that much damage, though her friends certainly found the tale entertaining.

She looks away with a sigh, just as Sam thwacks Roger on the arm irritably. He lets out a yelp, glaring at her half-heartedly as she raises an eyebrow at her boyfriend. "So I know quidditch is your one true love and all, Rog, but it would be great if you could talk to us too. Y'know best mates and all." He raises an eyebrow, shaking his head with an amused smile and nudging her arm.

"Jealous, Sammie?" Sam raises an eyebrow, glancing at Terence momentarily, before turning back to Roger.

"Of Peters? Didn't even know you swung that way, Roger, but cute." Roger shakes his head again, laughing, while Terence looks somewhat uncomfortable; he's not as used to Samantha Fawcett's sarcastic humour as they are. Roger pecks Sam softly, and Katherine and Terence share a look, rolling their eyes good-naturedly with quiet laughs.

The food appears on the tables and Sam gives a loud hoot, digging in with relish as Katherine studies her somewhat disgustedly. Of Samantha Fawcett, there is one thing to be said; she has no manners. While Katherine picks at her food delicately with a knife and fork, Sam digs into a chicken leg in her hands and laughs loudly when she catches Katherine's look of distaste. She swallows as Roger pours a helping of soup into his bowl, shaking her head and saying, "Honestly, Kat, you're such a pureblood sometimes."

Katherine raises an eyebrow. "Have you decided to formerly change your blood status or...?"

Roger chuckles, replying for his girlfriend – who is too busy _inhaling _another chicken leg. "She means you're like one of those 'noble' ones. You know the type." He pauses and she gives him a look. He rolls his eyes. "You're a Jasmine clone, Katherine."

A look of disgust takes hold of her pretty face, and she drops her knife and fork on her plate with a _clang, _studying her best friends' faces with horror. "Oh Merlin no. No. No." She pauses, then adds for emphasis, "Nope."

Sam, after swallowing, snorts a laugh. "Oh Merlin _yes_. Kat, you might hate the girl but you're sisters. 'Course you act the same."

Katherine shakes her head. "Still. Ew." Roger laughs, rolling his eyes and having a sip of the soup. Sam studies his bowl with a thoughtful frown, before,

"What's in that?"

* * *

{review?}


	4. The Broken Ties

**author ;; **dimming  
**title ;; **running up that hill  
**summary ;; **the beginnings of a war are stirring in the wizarding world. caught in the crossfire, the balcoin sisters have a choice to make; light or dark? family or friends? fred/oc, draco/oc.  
**disclaimer ;; **we claim no ownership to the harry potter series or its characters. all rights go to j.k rowling and warner brothers'.

* * *

**Chapter Four.  
**_The Broken Ties_

* * *

_Jasmine._

* * *

The Slytherin common room buzzed with chatter and laughter as students relaxed after the wondrous feast. The dungeon-like room was lit by many green lamps and the walls were decorated with tapestries of famous medieval slytherins. There were numerous dark leather sofas and in one of them sat Jasmine, who was chatting animatedly to Daphne and the Carrow twins whilst the slytherin quidditch team discussed their new training programme to beat the Gryffindors. The new captain, Graham Montague, sat in the centre and showed the team his messy, colourful parchments which displayed his new tactics. The atmosphere was warm and bubbly as everyone caught with each other on their first night back. Flora, Hestia, Daphne and Jasmine started playing a common muggle game known as 'Snog, Marry, Avoid.'

"Okay, Daph, snog, marry, avoid," Jasmine gave her a mischievous look before saying, "Potter, Weasley or Longbottom." Flora and Hestia giggled.

"Ew, they're all Gryffindors!" Daphne griped loudly. Jasmine gave her a lame shrug and beckoned her to go on. The quidditch team stopped talking and listened attentively whilst Daphne shook her head. "Jasmine, I've got a boyfriend, this game is too inappropriate!" Flora gave a snort, muttering something that sounded suspiciously like, 'spoilsport.'

"C'mon Daph, you're the one who started this game." Hestia begged as she started plaiting her long sandy brown hair. "It's just a game! Your boyfriend won't give a damn." The quidditch team had gone back to discussing tactics and Flora had begun eating her chocolate frog. Daphne blushed before whispering, "Ugh. Snog Weasley, marry Potter and avoid Longbottom." The group of girls groaned. The quidditch team had finished discussing tactics and scattered around the common room. Blaise, Theodore, Crabbe, Goyle and Draco came and sat with them.

"What 'bout you Jas?" Daphne asked whilst flicking her hair out of her face before gazing straight into Jasmine's eyes, "What, or rather, _who_ makes your heart flutter?"

Jasmine shook her head before answering, "You have to change the guys Daph, or else it'll be boring."

"Fine, snog, marry, avoid," Daphne gave an evil smirk, "Draco, Blaise or Theo." Flora and Hestia gawped at Daphne whilst Jasmine placed her head into her hands. Daphne knew Jasmine fancied Draco, but no one else did and Jasmine was determined to keep it that way. She looked up and saw Blaise, Theo and Draco all gazing at her waiting for an answer. Blaise and Theodore made strange kissy faces but Draco smiled softly at Jasmine, waiting for an answer. _'Draco can never know, it'll ruin our friendship' _Jasmine thought. "Snog Blaise," Jasmine glared at Blaise, who had started whopping quite loudly, disturbing the common room, "Marry Theo," Daphne mouth dropped and Theodore stared at her, equally as shocked as Daphne, "and avoid Draco." Jasmine whispered the last bit, before cursing this game. She looked at Draco. "I'm sorry," she whined "I didn't want to ruin our long lasting friendship through a stupid game, forgive me?" she smiled sweetly while tugging at his arm, the way she did when she was little. _'Draco will understand, we only pretend to flirt with each other because everyone teases us about our friendship'_ Jasmine thought.

She looked at Draco's face; his eyes were cold and his smile had been replaced with a frosty sneer as he pulled his arm free. He slowly muttered "Yeah, well it's a stupid game," before gathering up his things and leaving for the boys dormitory.

"Well that's was awkward." Blaise commented as he leaned in towards Jasmine "So Jas, do you wanna start snogging now?" Jasmine yelps, before reaching in to punch him.

Flora stops Jasmine, with a, "Don't worry, he's just not used to people rejecting him." Daphne didn't say anything during their entire game of exploding snap. After half an hour of playing exploding snap, Jasmine pulled out her copy of _Advanced Potion Making_ and began reading.

"Jas, school hasn't begun yet and you're already reading." Theodore said whilst playfully trying to pull the book out. Jasmine slapped his hand away, "I've been revising ever since my sister received her OWL results." She casually rolled her eyes. Daphne moved onto the couch with her as Theodore and Blaise started playing wizard chess.

"I've been meaning to ask, how did Katherine do in her OWLS?" Daphne questioned.

Jasmine scowled and said, "Horrid! I surprised they're still letting her continue to do her NEWTS." Blaise looked up from the chessboard and frowned.

"I swear Ravenclaws are meant to be smart." Jasmine glared angrily at him. Of course her stupid sister had done well, not outstandingly well, but well enough to make her parents swoon over her like dumb beasts.

"Well she's the exception!" Jasmine hissed, before returning to her book. Blaise shook his head before standing up and retiring to the boy's dormitory. The Carrow twins smiled sympathetically at Jasmine as they moved to take Blaise's place at the board whilst Daphne and Theodore whispered quietly at the opposite end of the sofa. Jasmine's forehead began to hurt as she remembered her parent's reaction to Katherine's attack.

"_If you hadn't annoyed your sister, none of this would have happened." Her mother had yelled as she cleared up the mess Katherine had made. "Why can't you ever respect your sister? What are we going to do when the Dark lord rises? We can't have you two fighting like banshees, now can we?" her cold eyes, the same shade of blue her daughters had inherited, glared at Jasmine. "You are putting shame on this family, Jasmine! Your sister is the only reason we have the pride we have now. Now, go and get the house elf and clean this up."_

Jasmine's throat dried up as she pictured this moment. _'How could _I_ be the shame?' _Jasmine thought. She glanced round the common room. It was empty; everyone had left to get ready for bed except for her friends. Theo had left and the Carrow twins were starting to put away Draco's chess pieces. Daphne stared at Jasmine before saying "Jas, why in the name of Merlin's saggy left bullock did you say '_Avoid Draco'_? Your crush on him is so obvious!"

"Like I said," Jasmine mumbled "I didn't want to ruin our friendship." She fiddled with the pages in her book as Daphne started whisper-screaming at her. "You could have said snog Draco!" Jasmine smacked herself on the forehead_, 'why didn't I just say snog? I'm such an idiot!'_ Jasmine thought. Daphne face was bright red- obviously tired from yelling at such a stubborn person- as she said, "You know Jas; you've been really moody since you got here." She continued, "If you carry on like this, you'll have no friends left." She stood up and left the common room. _'What a drama queen!'_ Jasmine thought.

The Carrow twins were fighting over who should return Draco's chess pieces to him. "You do it," urged Hestia.

"Why?" Flora giggled before stating, "They could be nude!" both of them started giggling loudly, barley noticing Jasmine's presence.

"I'll take them." Jasmine said, before standing up and snatching the pieces out of their hands. She walked towards the boy's dormitory. Her palms were sweaty and her heart was pounding against her chest as she knocked on the door. _'I have to get Draco to forgive me' _Jasmine thought _'he's the only one who agrees with me that my sister's a complete bitch.'_ Blaise opened the door and stood in front of Jasmine, with nothing but his green and silver boxers. He gasped and ran behind the door.

"Looks like we've got company lads." He joked whilst quickly putting a random top and trousers on. Jasmine walked in without invitation and stood in the centre of the room, admiring the Slytherin crests that were decorated on the walls. The dormitory was lit by silver lanterns hanging from the ceiling and the boys slept in ancient four poster beds with green silk hangings. She stopped peering at the wall only to that all eyes were on her. "Don't mind me; I'm just here to return Draco's chess pieces to him." She glanced at Theodore, who was shirtless and desperately trying to hide his embarrassment by flexing his muscles and making hideous 'non sexy' faces, and smirked. _'I should do this more often,'_ she thought. Someone tapped her on the shoulder and she spun round.

Jasmine stood face to face with Draco. His hair was wet and smelled of shampoo. He had a towel wrapped round his waist and his chest was bare. His eyes were cold but his lips beckoned her to come closer, even though they were inches apart_. 'I could kiss him now'_ she thought 'I_ can fuck him right now, in front of everyone.' _Draco touched her cheek gently and brushed a lock of her hair out of her face. Everyone in the room stared at them, waiting for something to happen. Jasmine closed her eyes and moved forward, waiting for Draco's soft lips to touch hers. She felt his hands take his chess pieces out of her hands and she heard him drop them onto the floor. His arms were round her shoulders and she felt herself turn round and start moving forward. She heard gasps of 'you can't do that Draco' as he steered her somewhere_. 'Somewhere private'_ she thought giddily, _'I can't believe it's actually going to happen.'_ She heard the door open and opened her eyes. She turned round and faced him.

"Draco, I'm sor-" she hadn't even finished her sentence when he chucked her out of the dormitory. She gasped. Tears began to form in her eyes as her longest friend closed the door on her face. Jasmine wiped away her tears in front of the boy's dormitory as she realised her only source of hope, happiness had rejected her. Just like her parents and her sister.

Jasmine traced her fingers round the door as she whispered, "I'm sorry," knowing even then that the damage could not be fixed.

* * *

{review?}


	5. Umbridge 101

**author ;; **dimming  
**title ;; **running up that hill  
**summary ;; **the beginnings of a war are stirring in the wizarding world. caught in the crossfire, the balcoin sisters have a choice to make; light or dark? family or friends? fred/oc, draco/oc.  
**disclaimer ;; **we claim no ownership to the harry potter series or its characters. all rights go to j.k rowling and warner brothers'.

* * *

**Chapter Five.  
**_Umbridge 101._

* * *

_Katherine._

* * *

In contrast to the drama overtaking the Slytherin common room, the Ravenclaws are particularly relaxed. In front of the fire, on a blue-cushioned, comfortable-looking sofa, is a group of four. Philly nibbles on one of Katherine's leftover sugar quills, a copy of _Witch Weekly _on her lap and chocolate eyes riveted on an article about Viktor Krum with utmost attention. Katherine and Roger play a game of exploding snap – Roger is already missing both his eyebrows, and Katherine's nose looks particularly singed – on the floor and Sam reclines beside Philly, eyes closed and breathing even.

"Okay," Philly sighs, shaking her head and tossing the magazine onto Sam's lap, who promptly shoots up, eyes bleary. She rolls up the magazine with slim, quick fingers, smacking the back of her friend's head with it before tossing it on the floor. Philly gives the copy a momentary sad look, before glancing back at her friends. "I don't know about you, but _I _am bored." Katherine raises an eyebrow at the gryffindor, sharing a faintly amused look with Roger, before nodding. She places another card on her pile absently, still looking at Philly and flinching in surprise as Roger lets out a yell of 'snap!'. The cards ignite on the floor, a small mountain-shaped cloud exploding out of them and burning her hand. She hisses sharply, glaring at the boy, before she sighs and looks at Philly.

"Then come up with something to do. I'm perfectly fine with playing exploding snap; _Jasmine_ thinks it's undignified." She rolls her eyes, emphasising her sister's name as Sam scoffs and shakes her head. Philly shrugs.

"_Something_. Dude, we've been sitting here for _ages_."

"Which means that _you_, my friend, should probably be getting back." Sam replies, raising her eyebrows. Philly pouts. "Curfew and all. And I know you just _love _spending time with Filch," Katherine snorts a laugh, "but still..." Philly heaves a long suffering sigh, pulling herself to her feet.

"Bye, cunts." She gets a dirty look from the Ravenclaw prefect, Ally Mills, at her swearing, as well as a few scared looks from a group of third years, before she walks out of the common room. Sam and Katherine share looks, rolling their eyes fondly, before Roger stands and stretches, shirt riding up to expose his torso. Katherine rolls her eyes again, this time shaking her head at Sam, who studies the expanse of skin interestedly.

"Well, that's my cue to go." Sam hums a distracted reply and Roger laughs a 'goodnight', before Kathy pulls herself to her feet and walks to the girls' dorms. The next morning,

.

.

Kathy wakes up to the sun on her face. It peeks through a crack of the royal blue curtains drawn around her four poster bed, playing directly onto her closed eyelids. She groans, rolls to the side and buries her head in the pillow. The smell of Sam's overbearing perfume fills the air, and she wrinkles her nose and breathes in the freesia smell of her shampoo, which soaks deep into the pillow. _'This is nice.' _She thinks, humming in satisfaction. She can hear Sam fiddling with her makeup and the shower running, but snoring comes from the bed beside her. Alice Ewart is obviously still sleeping. Katherine yawns into the fabric of her pillow, stretching leisurely beneath her thick quilt and sighing contentedly as her joints crack loudly. "C'mon, Kat!" Sam calls from the mirror, obviously hearing signs of her friend waking and taking it upon herself to make sure the pureblood doesn't go back to sleep. Katherine groans, shaking her head but pulling herself to a sitting position all the same. With the curtains drawn, she feels comfortable. It's like a cocoon; more comfortable than her room in the manor, with her parents' misguided pride and sister's righteous hatred.

She sighs and pushes away the thick blanket, almost wanting to cry at the loss of heat and swinging her legs around to the side of the bed. Her feet brush the plush blue carpet and she sighs, before sinking her toes into it and forcing herself to get up. "Good girl." Sam says absently, brushing mascara over her long eyelashes. Katherine rolls her eyes at the mocking statement, murmuring a sleepy 'fuck you' under her breath before stalking to the bathroom to take a shower.

The stall at the end – the good one, furthest away from the window – is already running and she can hear Phoebe Llewellyn humming, so she turns to another and pushes back the curtain. She can see Sam's shampoo on the rack and she rolls her eyes and shakes her head, too tired to hunt down her own. She turns on the shower and slips out of her pyjamas, before walking beneath the steady stream of warm water. The feel of it on her skin wakes her up, and by the time she steps out – smelling of the apples that are Sam's signature scent – she feels refreshed.

When she walks back into the common room, she sees Alice up and about, though she stumbles sleepily every so often. The blonde rushes about the dorm room unsteadily, and Katherine shakes her head with awe at the girl's disorganised state, before taking her place beside Sam at the mirror. Her fingers fiddle with a tub of some sort of skincare cream ('Miss Pemsickle's Pimple Paste; guaranteed to keep those pesky little pimples at bay!') while Sam applies her eyeliner carefully. "Time?" Kathy asks, putting the tub down and reaching for her foundation.

Sam puts down her eyeliner, reaching for her wand and waving it, scrunching up her nose in concentration. After a moment of silence, a weak, transparent clock appears in mid-air, proudly proclaiming the time to be six-forty-five am. Kathy raises an eyebrow at her friend. "Non verbal?" Sam nods, a proud little grin lighting up her pretty face.

"Non verbal." She repeats, putting down her wand and reaching for her eyeliner again.

"Huh. You're good at that." Sam smiles again, doing a little victory dance, before putting the eyeliner wand to her eyelid. "I'm shit. I can do verbal fine, but..." Sam winces sympathetically.

From behind them, Alice calls out to Phoebe, "You seen my shoe?" Phoebe walks out of the bathroom clad in a small towel and raises an eyebrow at her friend. Both Katherine and Sam share looks as the brunette replies with a,

"Why the fuck would I have seen your shoe?" As Phoebe goes off on a rant about taking care of your possessions, the girls turn back to the mirror with snorts of laughter. Kathy finishes off her mascara, before heading to her trunk and continuing the conversation,

"Think you can help me with nonverbal? Merlin knows the 'rents will _kill _me if I get anything less than an O in my NEWTs." She rolls her eyes. Sometimes, she thought Jasmine truly didn't realise just how lucky she was. In many ways, yes, the way Lucretia and Septimus neglected their youngest daughter was cruel, but in others it was a relief. Katherine, being the eldest and therefore the expected continuer of their line, was under far more pressure than Jasmine to achieve well and act as her parents dictated. They were set on marrying her off to someone in an old family; the names Zabini and Nott had been thrown around, as well as Malfoy, once or twice, though that had ended quickly. Lucius and Septimus had never exactly seen eye to eye; they'd never let their children marry. Shaking her head at her parents' idiocy, she grins at Sam's reply of,

"'Course. Long as you give me one of those _delicious _brownies Tippy makes." Katherine beams at her friend, pulling on her suede school shoes and reaching for a handbag to put her books in.

"Thanks luv. Christ knows what I'd do without you." Sam laughs.

"Reconcile with that dreadful sister of yours?" Both wrinkle their noses and laugh, before Sam rushes for her bed to find her own bag.

"So, Balcoin, don't s'pose you'd be up for sharing some of those brownies with the rest of us mere mortals?" Phoebe asks, tugging on a pair of heels that look awfully uncomfortable. Katherine narrows her eyes in mock-thought, before snorting and shaking her head.

"Sorry sweetheart. I'm a pig at heart; they're _mine_." She sticks her tongue out playfully, feeling something warm bubbling up inside her. She likes this; acting so childishly with no concern for the Balcoin reputation. She and Phoebe are kindred spirits; two purebloods wishing to get out of their family's astronomy-tower-tall shadow. She knows when she reaches the great hall she can't do this; it's only safe for the dorms, where no one unsavoury can hear her and report back to her awful parents. Merlin knows how many tattle-tails she had on her.

"Don't worry Kat, you're not the only one." Alice comments from the doorway of the bathroom, holding one of her shoes in her hand. Sam snorts.

"Found it then?" Alice looks momentarily confused, before Sam nods to her hand and she glances at it. She grins embarrassedly, nodding her head and leaning her weight against the doorway to pull the shoe on. Her nails flash in the sunlight; painted burgundy this time. Phoebe grins at her muggleborn friend's hands.

"The things muggles invent are _wonderful_." Alice grins again, nodding her head, though she looks a little confused. Bless her heart, but Alice is a little slow. She doesn't fit the blonde stereotype exactly, but she's a bit of a daydreamer. She's smart enough to qualify for Ravenclaw, thankfully.

"C'mon, Kathy." Sam calls, walking out the dorm door. Katherine flutters her fingers at her dorm mates in a wave, before following. The moment she steps out the door, she feels the mask come on; civil and obedient, though she can't quite hide the spark in her eye.

The girls make their way into the great hall, arm in arm and talking over the new defence against the dark arts teacher. "She seems like a right twat." Katherine says indignantly, glaring up at the staff table. Sam opens her mouth to reply, before two identical voices do it for her.

"You talking about yourself again, Balcoin?" Katherine groans under her breath, turning around to face the Weasley twins. She doesn't know them particularly well, but apparently being the Slytherin-Queen's older sister doesn't win her any points in their minds.

"Nah sweetheart, your mother." She doesn't say it nastily, though not kindly, either. It's sorta just an answer; this is just how things are, between the twins and her. Not nasty, but not kind. Neutral, almost. The twins roll their eyes.

"Well, sounds to me like you're talking about our _lovely _new defence professor, don't you think, George?" The one on the left comments, looking at his twin. His mirror image looks thoughtful for a moment, before he replies,

"Does seem that way, Fred." Both turn grins to the pair of Ravenclaws in front of them, and Sam rolls her eyes.

"Well done for making that connection, Weasleys. Want a sticker?" Both look momentarily confused by the last word, but George replies,

"Nah, a kiss will do, Fawcett." He puckers up mockingly and the girl rolls her eyes, murmuring something that sounds suspiciously like 'in your dreams' under her breath. The twins snort at her half-hearted reply – Kathy's struck, again, by how similar the sound is –, raising their eyebrows at something over her shoulder.

"Rushden." The one on the right comments, and Katherine sighs. Philly will likely make things worse. "Haven't seen you for a while. You been sitting up this one's arse?" The left one makes a vague gesture to Kathy, who rolls her eyes, and Philly opens her mouth to reply. Cutting her off before it comes to blows, Kathy and Sam lock eyes and nod, turning around and grabbing Philly by the arms.

"C'mon, Philly." The gryffindor sputters indignantly, glaring at the twins – who watch, amused – over her shoulder as her friends lead her to the Ravenclaw table. Roger is already seated, nose buried in a book and taking bites of toast every so often. Sam forces Philly into a chair opposite Roger, before getting up to walk around the long table. Katherine smirks evilly, snatching the toast out of Roger's hand and plopping down on the bench beside Philly. He glares at her, giving the toast a longing look as she takes an exaggerated bite into it. Moments later, she wrinkles her nose in disgust and drops the toast on the plate in front of Roger as though it were something akin to a rat. "Eugh." She says around her bite, forcing herself to swallow it as her face twists in disgust. "Marmite. How can you eat that?" Roger gives her a smug look, taking a bite as Sam takes her seat beside him. He swallows and presses a kiss to his girlfriend's lips, and Philly makes a grossed-out face, turning away to reach for a jar of jam.

Katherine reaches for a china teapot and a mug, pouring tea into it with a yawn. "Morning, Phils." Roger says after pulling away from the kiss, and Philly rolls her eyes.

"I see how it is; what happened to bros before hoes?" Sam gives her an indignant look, but Roger snorts.

"You're not a bro, Philly." The gryffindor looks suitably hurt.

"You calling me a hoe?" Kathy laughs from beside her, taking a sip of her tea.

"That's exactly what he's doing." Philly looks from Katherine to Roger, before snorting.

"In cahoots I see." She murmurs and Sam laughs.

"Who the fuck says 'cahoots' anymore? You've been spending too much time with grandma Rushden, Phils." Philly pouts, reaching for a scone and taking a bite. Roger looks up from his book as professor Flitwick, the Ravenclaw head of house, puts down his timetable in front of him. The stout professor also passes Roger Sam's and Katherine's, saying to Philly,

"Miss Rushden, it would be much easier for you to receive your timetable if you would _actually _sit at your table." Philly gives a good-natured grin.

"But you love having me here, sir." The jovial professor smiles his reply, but gestures for her to move. She sighs, gives Kathy a one-armed hug and stands to return to her table. _'This is not a good idea.' _Kathy thinks. _'That girl will rip the Weasleys apart.' _Indeed, the twins are moving to sit with her, and Kathy grins, ready to listen to the shouting match.

"Well, looks like we'll see if the new defence professor is any good soon enough. Defence Against the Dark Arts with the hufflepuffs, first period." Katherine blinks with surprise, looking down at her own time table and scowling.

"With the hufflepuffs? Really?" Sam winces sympathetically and Katherine glances over Roger's shoulder to look at Callum. He has his timetable in his hands, but his eyes are glued on his quidditch teammate, Noah Fitch. Beside him sits Roger's little sister, Steph, who gazes at Callum dreamily. As though feeling her gaze on him, Callum looks up and Katherine immediately turns her eyes to the tabletop. Roger reaches over and pats her hand, and she pulls hers away with a shake of her head. "Asshole." She murmurs, shaking her head again.

The rest of breakfast passes without incident.

.

.

Walking into Defence Against the Dark Arts, Katherine feels a sense of trepidation. This is a _ministry _worker. A ministry worker who may or may not be on Potter's side; you never really know how far Dumbledore has sunk his hooks into the wizarding world. She takes her seat beside Sam and behind Roger, determinedly _not _looking at Callum Macmillan. She can hear him and his friends as they walk into the room, laughing and joking around, and she snaps the quill in her hands. Sam snorts from beside her and she glares at her friend, chucking the pieces at the black girl and reaching into her bag for another one.

The lesson starts off easily enough; that _toad _of a woman makes her entrance and drivels out some shit about not using magic. Being Ravenclaws, they don't exactly take this very well. She stands by what she says though; no magic is used and no wands are waved that lesson. Katherine feels some momentary pity for her little sister, who will be taking her O.W.L.s under this woman's supervision.

Callum keeps trying to catch her eye, and she turns away and deliberately begins a conversation with Sam or Roger every time he nearly does.

'_This sucks.'_

* * *

{wow. sorry this took so long you guys. but it's like 5 pages on word, so i think i made up for it a little?}

{_review?_}


	6. Pranks in Potions

**author ;; **dimming  
**title ;; **running up that hill  
**summary ;; **the beginnings of a war are stirring in the wizarding world. caught in the crossfire, the balcoin sisters have a choice to make; light or dark? family or friends? fred/oc, draco/oc.  
**disclaimer ;; **we claim no ownership to the harry potter series or its characters. all rights go to j.k rowling and warner brothers'.

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**Chapter Six.  
**_Pranks in Potions_

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_Jasmine_

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Jasmine sighed as she reached in for a croissant on the Slytherin table. She had barely slept last night. She carelessly took a bite of it, not caring much about the crumbs on her uniform. '_I look a state anyway'_ she thought whilst taking another ginormous bite of the croissant. Daphne gazed at her carefully, as if she was a piece of glass that was about to break at any minute. Draco sat three seats anyway from her and was intrigued in a conversation with Blaise and Theodore. Jasmine sighed yet again before turning away.

"Jas, you need to snap out of it." Daphne stated, only to be ignored by Jasmine. "Jas? Jas! Jas!" she snapped, clicking her fingers in front of her face.

"What?" Jasmine questioned, getting slightly annoyed by her friend.

"Never mind," Daphne sighed before stating "you look like a right sight." She wiped a smudge of lipstick of Jasmine cheek with a tissue, laughing and shaking her head. Jasmine beckoned for a mirror and started to fix her appearance. Daphne giggled at her friend as the Carrow twins arrived.

"Finally," Daphne exhaled, "I thought you two were gonna be late." Flora shook her head and replied,

"Hestia threw a tantrum because she couldn't find her lucky _hairband_." Hestia shoved her gently as Jasmine finished fixing herself.

"The Slytherin queen is back on track." Daphne exclaimed as she pointed at Jasmine. Jasmine smiled, she knew Daphne was just trying to break the tension but she didn't feel like joining in on one of her ridiculous hand games or her ludicrous songs. Jasmine just wanted to crawl back into bed and stay there. She glanced up the table. Blaise and Theodore had dashed back to the common room to get their bags and Daphne had started playing with Flora's hair while Hestia told her about this boy she liked. She searched for Draco, only to find him showing his arm muscles to a group of third years as they squealed with delight. '_Typical_' Jasmine thought. No one seemed to realise how upset she was about what happened last night. Her best friend was too busy talking about Hestia's 'hunky' sixth year to notice Jasmine. '_I could talk to my sister' _she thought; they used to tell each other everything when they were younger. Jasmine peered at her sister, happily laughing with her friends and shook her head._ 'What could have possessed me to think such a thing?'_ she thought. Her thoughts were disrupted by a shriek of laughter coming from Draco's direction. Jasmine could not take it anymore. She picked up her bag and moved next to Draco before saying

"Cheating on me again, Draco?" the third years gasped and quickly shuffled again whilst Draco sent her a dirty look. She smirked.

"So, all of a sudden you want to be in a relationship." Draco remarked. Jasmine fiddled with her hair and gazed up into Draco's eyes.

"Not exactly," Draco raised an eyebrow at this and glared at her "I just want my friend back." Jasmine said, trying to compose herself. Draco glanced at her and smiled softly at her before reaching out and gently holding her hand.

"I'm sorry about last night," he said "it just hurt me that you didn't want to kiss me. I mean, am really that bad?" he added sarcastically.

Jasmine smiled "No, I just wanted our friendship to stay the same. By saying I would kiss you, I thought it would make our friendship even more difficult." Draco shook his head. Jasmine looked at him softly, knowing that he would never know her true intentions. "Friends?" Jasmine asked as she got onto her knees and pulled a ridiculous puppy dog face.

Draco chuckled and manage to mumble "Friends." Jasmine smiled and rushed in to give him a hug.

Then she added, "Push me again and you're dead meat!" Draco pretended to be scared by this as Jasmine punched him softly on the arm.

"So, I guess the drama queens have made up." Blaise said as him and Theodore joined them at the table, both bright red in the face. From the corner of her eye, Jasmine could see professor Snape telling Crabbe off for his shabby uniform whilst handing out the timetables for the year. Jasmine giggled; she was happy things were finally back to normal. Snape walked towards them in his black robe and gave them their timetables.

"You're with me first period." He warned "Don't- be- late." After that he walked off whilst Jasmine's fellow students exchanged confused glances. Draco looked at the timetable and moaned.

"Double potions with the Gryffindors!" he said, "No wonder professor Snape is in a bad mood." Daphne moved next to Jasmine and listened to Draco's rant about the Gryffindors and their constant failure.

"- and that blasted Granger, with her teeth and her mudbloodne-" Draco was cut off by Blaise, who had noticed Harry Potter's late arrival in the great hall. His face was pale and his black hair was in a mess. Everyone gazed and sent him dirty looks as Granger tried to fix his uniform and sat down. Draco chuckled. "What a mess!" he exclaimed, delighted at Harry's unusual appearance.

"You know what," Theodore said as Blaise tried to quieten Draco down "Potter's a right mess and no one's on his side." He slowly brought out a dated Daily Prophet from his bag and showed them the front page. '_The Boy Who Lied' _it read. Everyone peered at Theodore with utter confusion, beckoning him to go on "Everyone thinks he killed Cedric Diggory and that he's trying to blame the dark lord for more fame." Theodore smirked "I'm not an obsessed Potter-hater like Draco here-" Draco punched Theodore on the arm "-kidding, I'm kidding, jeez-" Theodore rubbed his arm gently and continued "Harry Potter and his famous duo are the past. This is our year." Theodore announced. Everyone surrounding him sneered and grinned.

"And I know just the perfect way to hit things off." Everyone surrounded Draco as he went through the plan and chuckled. '_This is perfect.', _thought Jasmine.

. . .

Jasmine listened inattentively to Snape's rant about OWLS. Instead, she doodled on a spare piece of parchment. The plan was set. Daphne glared at her as she doodled and kept nudging her, trying to get her focused on Snape's words. Jasmine ignored her. She could see Draco whispering excitedly to Blaise from the corner of her eyes. _'God'_ Jasmine thought pathetically, _'I wish Draco would spend that long thinking about me.'_Jasmine went back to doodling, now doodling hearts with 'Draco' written in them as Daphne sighed. Professor Snape was now explaining the draught of peace, the potion they would be studying and brewing.

"Go onto page 274 of your exercise book and take notes about this potion." Snape commanded. "I shall be right back." Snape swept out of the room.

Draco glanced at Jasmine and nodded, giving her the signal. Jasmine started speaking rather loudly.

"Well, you know Daphne, there's not much the ministry can do 'bout him. He's Dumbledore's favourite"' Harry peered at them from his usual seat at the back of the classroom, blushing slightly as Jasmine continued. "He's practically dangerous, if it were up to me, he'd be in Azkaban along with that wretch godfather of his."

"Right," Daphne replied, in a silly, girly voice, "I mean, it's all in the blood. Look at his godfather, killed 10 people with one spell. It's a good thing his parents were killed," Daphne paused, "who knows what he would've done if he was raised in a proper wizard family." They all nodded glancing at Draco, who smirked cunningly and strutted over to Harry Potter's side and slyly barged into him, knocking him out of his chair.

'WHAT THE FU-'Harry screamed rubbing the back of his head and searching for his glasses. His eyes were tear stained, as if he had been crying. Draco picked up his wand carelessly and played with it as Hermione gave Harry his glasses back.

'What is wrong with you, Malfoy?' she questioned, helping Harry up. 'We'll report you to-'

'Ignore him Hermione!' Harry yelled, standing up and turning his back on Draco. Jasmine admired his courage to walk away. She wish she could do that to her parents. Jasmine heard Theodore say 'funny isn't it Draco? Like father, like son I suppose.'

'Umm,' Jasmine nodded in agreement. Draco played with Harry's wand as Jasmine watched. He gave her a small smile before sneering 'at least he hasn't got a wand to kill anyone with.'

Harry turned and walked straight up to Draco. 'Give me my wand back' he hissed. Draco ignored him. 'GIVE ME MY WAN-'he began yelling but was immediately cut off by Snape.

'Potter!' he yells, 'All of you sit down immediately.'

'But-'

'No buts!' Snape snaps. Jasmine smirks. 'But Malfoy has my wand.' Harry retaliated. All the Slytherins snickered. Snape glared at him. 'We've had enough of your lies this summer, Potter! Sit down!' Harry was red in face as he sat down.

"Right, I want you all to complete a brief sample on this potion after you have completed taking your notes down from page 274." Snape put the instructions on the blackboard and went to his desk.

Jasmine sighed as she picked up her quill and started taking her notes down. She was thinking about her parents and how she had to bust her sister's bad blood. _'I mean, she's practically friends with muggles!' _she thought as she took her last note. She looked round to see how her other classmates were doing. Draco, Harry and Hermione had started making their samples. Theodore was whispering to Blaise and beckoned Jasmine to come over.

"Ready?" He asked. Jasmine looked at Blaise and Theodore in confusion as they slowly made their way to Harry's cauldron and slipped in three firecrackers. Jasmine gasped. Billions of colourful sparks flew out of his cauldron and loud booms bounced around the dungeon. She turned to see Draco, Blaise and Theodore high fiving and laughing under the table as Harry hid for cover. Jasmine cover her ears with her hands and hid under her table where she found Daphne, looking weary.

"I swear this was not a part of the plan." She said, holding Jasmine tight as more explosions burst from the cauldron. Snape was trying to calm the explosions with some incantations but none of it seemed to be working.

"I know, I thought we were only gonna mock him and steal his wand." Jasmine replied "But you have to admit Daph, this is hilarious!" she added. Both of the girls burst into laughter from under the table at the sight of Hermione's robe on fire. Jasmine looked for Draco in the smoke but couldn't see him at all. More explosions and sparks flew out and the cauldron exploded setting his books alight.

"Evacuate, evacuate the classroom!" Snape yelled across the dungeon. Jasmine grabbed he bag and ran out of the dungeon with Daphne and met up with Draco, Blaise and Theodore, who were trying to keep straight faces.

"What on earth was that?" Jasmine questioned, glaring at them. Draco shushed her as Snape stood in the corridor fuming. "Open your bags, all of you!" he demanded. He started to search every student's bag. "Draco-" Jasmine began, worried, but Draco cut her off.

"It's okay, we're not gonna get caught." He whispered to her. Snape checked her and Daphne's bags and began checking Draco's. Nothing. There was nothing suspicious in Blaise or Theodore's either. Jasmine shrugged her shoulders carelessly as Draco exchanged sly smirks with Blaise and Theodore.

"What have we got here, Potter?" Snape questioned as he pulled a box of firecracker's from Harry's bag. Everyone gasped. Harry looked mortified.

He stammered as he replied, "I-I promise s-sir it wasn't-"

"Enough!" Snape yelled. "I've had enough of your nonsense. First day back and you think you can strut into my classroom-"

"I didn't strut si-" Potter began, all gryffindor bravado, but Snape interrupted him,

"Potter! We are going to the Headmaster!" Snape pointed to the rest of the students "The rest of you, go to your common rooms. I shall explain to Professor McGonagall why you are there." He left.

Jasmine was in utter disbelief and admiration of Draco. She couldn't believe he pulled this off. She stared at him and suddenly got an idea. _'I can do this to my sister._' She thought. However, she needed something _big_ to kick her of her sister of the Balcoin throne.

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{review, lovelies?}


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